Power of Attorney

Power of Attorney
 

My wife's sister's mother-in-law had Alzheimer's, and her dirty dog of an eldest son has secured power of attorney depriving all the family except his own children of their previously promised inheritances. My wife keeps referring to it as "Aceo" or "Haceo" or something, but I can find no reference to any such thing in any dictionary. Any ideas, guys?

¿"Albacea", probably? That's the person who administers the will and properties of a deceased person.

The best word for that in English is executor. Apparently the dirty dog is the executor. Sorry.

In the UK an 'executor' merely administers the wishes of the deceased as expressed in the will after probate is granted, the 'dirty dog' had his mother declared mentally incompetent and he decided how the estate should be distributed; i.e. shared by his own two offspring. I believe "Power of Attorney" does grant holder the right to distribute the estate although the holder may not himself benefit from the proceeds.

Although "Albacea" is probably the word in Spanish; so thank you Angelica.

As I understand Spanish inheritance law, the children automatically get their percentage of the estate, and no executor can change that (in fact he might be acting illegally). Obviously I don't know the details, but it sounds as if they need to consult a lawyer to challenge what is going on.

Yes, but having poder general de representación as legal guardian of an incompetent person he can dispose of her patrimony, but his actions have to be reasonable though there's a narrow span to demand for any misdeed, typically two or three years. Injunctions can be obtained, but the most important thing is that an apoderado general appointed by a judge must inform periodically of any patrimonial actions and relatives can be legally represented before the same court to keep an eye on what is happening.

Does that only apply in Argentina though?

Although there is some common ground, laws do change from one country to another. There must be some way in Spain to prove this man's wrongdoings though. What is certainly the same in all countries is that this might lead to a long complicated expensive legal fight. :(